EDITORIAL: Clean coast year round

One of the after-summer rituals that Californians have come to embrace is the annual Coastal Cleanup Day on the third Saturday in September.

That’s when volunteers gather to pick up trash and debris left by beachgoers, and get the beaches in good condition for the rest of the year.

The 23rd Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day is from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. In Laguna Beach, Main Beach is the headquarters for the event, and four other beaches are highlighted here, under the able oversight of Clean Water Now and Roger Butow.

According to the Coastal Commission, which sponsors the event, “On this day, 50,000 volunteers turn out to more than 700 cleanup sites statewide to conduct what has been hailed by the Guinness Book of World Records as ‘the largest garbage collection’ (1993). Since the program started in 1985, more than 750,000 Californians have removed more than 12 million pounds of debris from our state’s shorelines and coast. When combined with the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by The Ocean Conservancy and taking place on the same day, California Coastal Cleanup Day becomes part of one of the largest volunteer events of the year.”

Laguna Beach is fortunate to have vigilant coast and beach-watchers whose mission is to keep the sands and tide pools pristine, and the waters clean and clear.

It’s a tougher job than it would appear, because the very beauty of these beaches draws visitors from everywhere who may not be as thoughtful about their surroundings or who may not understand the beaches are everyone’s responsibility.

Ironically, over the past couple of years more outsiders than Lagunans have participated in Coastal Cleanup Day here.

We hope and trust many Lagunans may not feel they need to participate in a “day” of cleaning up because they make it their business to do so whenever they are on the beaches.

In Laguna Beach, every day is, or should be, Coastal Cleanup Day.